Symbols-R-Us

Adler and Rodman (2006:15) state: “A symbol is an arbitrary sign used to represent things, people, events or relationships in a way that makes communication possible.”
So we interact with others using symbols. What a huge concept. What this means is that our culture, our lives, our very identities are immersed in and defined by symbols.
Trying to look at symbols in some kind of detached way is like a fish trying to study water. A Google search resulted in 116 million results including 6,810 articles in the news today. How can we distill some kind of essence from this massive subject and make a brief comment on symbols? The study of symbols is a whole field in itself. Looking at even just visual symbols would require a lifetime. The On-line encyclopedia of symbols is merely a sample of one type of symbol. What of the history of symbols? Science is tackling the subject as suggested by the relationship of symbols to Physics and Evolution . Social sciences such as Anthropology not only define culture as the process of a group relating symbolically but also study origins of symbols.. The complex relationship of religion and art to symbols is perhaps suggested by this image map of the Sistine Chapel. Personal body art is taking ownership of a symbol under your skin. Learning to read is decoding symbols.
It’s endless. Trying to discuss symbols is like a physician trying to dissect a living human or a physicist trying to observe a particle without affecting it. I guess to communicate is to use symbols, and not to communicate is to die.

References:
Adler and Rodman (2006) Oxford University Press, New York